Coding RNA Sequencing of Equine Endometrium during Maternal Recognition of Pregnancy

Kristin M Klohonatz; Stephen J Coleman; Alma D Islas-Trejo; Juan F Medrano; Ann M Hess; Ted Kalbfleisch; Milton G Thomas; Gerrit J Bouma; Jason E Bruemmer

doi:10.3390/genes10100749

Coding RNA Sequencing of Equine Endometrium during Maternal Recognition of Pregnancy

Genes (Basel). 2019 Sep 25;10(10):749. doi: 10.3390/genes10100749.

Authors

Kristin M Klohonatz¹, Stephen J Coleman², Alma D Islas-Trejo³, Juan F Medrano⁴, Ann M Hess⁵, Ted Kalbfleisch⁶, Milton G Thomas⁷, Gerrit J Bouma⁸, Jason E Bruemmer^{9

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Affiliations

¹ Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. kmk5057@gmail.com.
² Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. stephen.coleman@colostate.edu.
³ Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA. adislas@ucdavis.edu.
⁴ Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA. jfmedrano@ucdavis.edu.
⁵ Department of Statistics and Bioinformatics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. ann.hess@colostate.edu.
⁶ Department of Veterinary Science, Gluck Equine Research Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40503, USA. ted.kalbfleisch@uky.edu.
⁷ Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. Milt.Thomas@colostate.edu.
⁸ Department of Biomedical Sciences, Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. Gerrit.Bouma@ColoState.EDU.
⁹ Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. jason.bruemmer@colostate.edu.
¹⁰ Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, 259 Animal Sciences, 1171 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1171, USA. jason.bruemmer@colostate.edu.

Abstract

Equine maternal recognition of pregnancy (MRP) is a process whose signal remains unknown. During MRP the conceptus and endometrium communicate to attenuate prostaglandin F_2α (PGF) secretion, sparing the corpus luteum and maintaining progesterone production. Recognition of a mobile conceptus by the endometrium is critical by days 14-16 post-ovulation (PO), when endometrium produces PGF, initiating luteolysis. The objective of this study was to evaluate endometrial gene expression changes based upon pregnancy status via RNA sequencing. This experiment utilized a cross-over design with each mare serving as both a pregnant and non-mated control on days nine, 11, and 13 PO (n = 3/status/day). Mares were randomly assigned to collection day and pregnancy confirmed by terminal uterine lavage at the time of endometrial biopsy. Total RNA was isolated and libraries prepared using Illumina TruSeq RNA sample preparation kit. Reads were mapped and annotated using HISAT2 and Stringtie. Expression values were evaluated with DESEQ2 (P ≤ 0.05 indicated significance). On day nine, 11, and 13 there were 1435, 1435 and 916 significant transcripts, respectively. Multiple genes with splice variants had different expression patterns within the same day. These are the first data to evaluate the endometrial transcriptome during MRP on days nine, 11, and 13.

Keywords: equine; maternal recognition of pregnancy; pregnancy; transcriptome.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Endometrium / metabolism*
Female
Horses
Pregnancy
Pregnancy, Animal / genetics*
Sequence Analysis, RNA
Transcriptome